The Holy Island of Lindisfarne

I haven't stopped blogging. No, really, I haven't! August just simply disappeared on me, and for the first time in over six years of blogging, I missed a month. There were good reasons though. We've been to London and the Highlands of Scotland, and many cities in between! Our long planned trip hung in the balance when many flights were cancelled in and out of Israel but, I'm pleased to say, we made it out of the country and were able to enjoy a much needed break. Now we're back and things are returning to normal. Well, the "normal" that is Israel anyway.

Given that we have family in London, the natural place to start our trip was there. We went to The Making of Harry Potter at the Warner Brothers Studios, and swam at the London Aquatics Centre. The boys went to see their beloved Arsenal play, whilst I went off to see the incredible Matisse Cut-Outs at the Tate Modern. Further north the boys let off steam at the Alton Towers Theme Park. But this trip was really about exploring the countryside and seeing some beautiful places. We started with the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, close to the border with Scotland.

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne, also known just as Holy Island, has a recorded history from the 6th century. It was an important centre of Celtic Christianity. At some point in the early 700's the famous illuminated manuscript known as the Lindisfarne Gospels, an illustrated copy of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, was made probably at Lindisfarne. After Viking invasions and the Norman conquest of England a priory was reestablished there, and a small castle was built in 1550. Stones from the priory were used as building material. In modern times lime kilns were built on Lindisfarne in the 1860's, and lime was burnt on the island until at least the end of the 19th century. One of the most celebrated gardeners of modern times, Gertrude Jekyll, laid out a tiny garden just north of the castle in 1911.

 

The island and picturesque village, brimming with history, were a delight to explore but it was the wildlife that I was really keen to see. The island is a sanctuary for wildlife and a great place to watch birds and go rock pooling. We found crabs, sponges, seaweed and plenty of shells. Anemones, starfish and pipefish can also be found, if you know where to look and what to search out. In winter about 50,000 birds visit the island and bird watchers can look out for geese, Ringed Plovers, Redshanks, and Oystercatchers. However, it was the grey seals that we were searching for. Admittedly they were further out to sea than I had hoped but we spotted them in the distance on the south side of the island, bobbing up and down in the water and sunning themselves on the sands.

It was simply perfect. The cool English weather, beautiful coastal scenery, and a distinct tranquility about the whole place, made for a wonderful day. I couldn't have asked for more. Yet it was time to move on. We had a lot more to explore.